Tourism governance and political agency in Iran: centralisation, spatial inequality, and local exclusion

This study examines how centralised tourism governance shapes tourism planning, local political agency, spatial inequality, and cultural representation in Iran. Drawing on a critical tourism governance lens supported by political agency, the paper conceptualises tourism planning as a political and spatial process through which institutional authority influences destination visibility, local participation, and cultural representation. Based on 24 semi structured interviews with tourism policymakers, experts, destination professionals, tourists, and local tourism actors, the findings show that tourism governance in Iran remains strongly shaped by state centred planning, bureaucratic control, and selective destination promotion. Tourism investment and visibility are concentrated around a limited number of officially recognised heritage destinations, while many peripheral regions remain marginal within national tourism strategies. The paper contributes to tourism governance and policy debates by showing how centralised institutional arrangements can produce uneven participation, selective regional visibility, and restricted local influence over tourism planning and representation.